Burnside

Description:

Hyper-Efficient Metabolism: Burnside’s digestive system and metabolic functions are far superior to a normal human. His internal digestion operates much more similarly to an internal combustion engine of sorts; anything that burns is a valid food source for him (his vitamin, mineral, and other chemical nutritional needs, if any, are unknown). Similarly, his blood “burns away” foreign substances, rendering him immune to diseases, toxins, and anything else bloodborne. However, since he does not control this aspect of his abilities, it also burns away anything that would be helpful to him, such as blood transfusions or IV medication.

Flame Projection: Through a biological process, Burnside converts calories into heat, while his body collects flammable gasses that collect in his system. These gasses are pressurized in organs in his wrists, where the caloric heat ignites it on command. Burnside can then release the burning gasses in a directed, pressurized spray. Burnside can fire smaller, individual bolts of flame, or create larger sprays in various shapes. He can also use his fire and heat for clever “power tricks”, such as creating a cloud of thick heated smoke, trapping a foe in a ring of flame, melting the ground beneath their feet, etc. Despite his potent abilities, Burnside is not a pyrokinetic; he can only create fire and direct it initially.

Immunities: Burnside has shown to be completely immune to heat and fire. If there is an upper limit to how many degrees he can withstand, it is unknown. He has been seen swimming through molten steel to no ill effect whatsoever. In addition, Burnside, unlike many fire projectors, is immune to cold and ice damage. The heat he creates burns hot enough to “burn away” such attacks, including ice bonds and constructs. Finally, Burnside can operate unhindered in heated and burning conditions; he can see just fine through heat shimmers and smoke, he breaths just fine in smoke, and so on.

Bio:

“Get your ass in gear, Matches!”

Matches was not having a good day. He and some goons had been hired by the Valestras to burn down the home of a claims adjuster who had been asking too many questions and make it look like an accident. Everything had gone according to plan.

Except that The Revenant saw the blaze, and the men fleeing from the scene.

His heart was beating hard in his chest. He heard a small whiz, and the man who had just shouted at him dropped, a single bullet hole through his forehead. High above on the rooftops, The Revenant emptied the chamber on his bolt-action rifle and took aim again.

Matches knew he was dead. He’d heard stories about The Revenant. About how he murdered criminals, about how his superhuman aim. Another goon collapses as Matches takes a left turn down an alley. The Revenant empties the chamber and aims.

Matches dove behind a dumpster as the last goon fell. The rifle clicks, taking aim. He was as good as dead.

Matches felt someone grab him out of nowhere and a sudden rush of air. He opened his eyes, and he was somewhere completely different. Inside, maybe underground? A man wearing shaded leathers and a gas mask stood over him, A long combat knife strapped to each leg. A man clad in bulky purple and silver-gray power armor approached him, holding a syringe filled with a flourescent vicous fluid.

“Greetings Mr. Malone. My associate has just saved you from a swift death at the hands of our friendly neighborhood soldier-gone-rogue. As such, you’ve volunteered for my human genetics program.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fryer….

After being experimented upon by The Vanguard, small time professional arsonist Carver “Matches” Malone was turned into the psychotic villain Burnside. He possesses potent fire generation abilities, as well as immunity to fire, heat, and smoke. What used to be very mild pyromania, a mere love of watching the crackling of a small open flame, has developed into full-blown murderous tendencies. As Burnside, he is not happy unless he is setting people on fire, watching their skin bubble and smelling their flesh cook.

The man Malone used to be is completely gone. As a result of Vanguard’s genetic techniques, Burnside is very, very crazy. He has no memory of his life before gaining his abilities, and has no desire to do anything but spread chaos and mayhem, using fire as a vehicle.

Burnside is both a psychopath and a psychotic. He has no compassion, empathy, or anything similar. He sees other people as nothing but fuel for his fire. He also suffers from delusions and hallucinations. He constantly hears voices in his head, who only cease speaking if he is actively setting things alight.

The only fragment remaining from his previous life is a burning hatred for The Revenant. Burnside will go out of his way to take on The Revenant, his minions, or otherwise hamper him (if he’s lucid enough to recognize that someone works for The Revenant or recognize what one of his goals are).

Burnside’s abilities are very powerful, but with one drawback. Burnside’s fire is produced calorically, and his body is not specially adapted to self-generating large amounts of energy like many Metahumans. As such, Burnside’s metabolism is extremely quick, requiring a lot of food very often. In addition to making him very skinny, he doesn’t have a lot of staying power. If an engagement draws out too long, Burnside’s flames peter out as he loses energy stores. While he typically has no compunctions about fleeing, he has been known to feast on whatever he can get his hands on in the heat of battle if the situation requires his continued attention, including the cooked remains of his victims.

Burnside has fought The Sentinels on several occasions. In his eyes, this has elevated them to the level of favored playthings; he harbors no animosity, but likes to “play” with them as they’ve shown to be quite resilient, and thus able to “play” much longer than most people.

Burnside’s costume follows a two tone color scheme with two differing shades of red. Bands set into the material go down his sides, and the partial face mask features orange goggles. The costume also features a tank on the back and tubes flowing to the gloves, but this is just for show, a bit of misdirection for any who would think Burnside’s abilities come from his costume. The apparatus is, however, a functional pressurized liquid propellant system, and is typically filled with gasoline, kerosene, or other accelerant, allowing Burnside to utilize it like a flamethrower or to simply soak a target in fuel before igniting them. The apparatus can be and has been ruptured, but causes no ill effects as Burnside is completely immune to fire.

Following the events of Operation Can Opener, Burnside was captured and sentenced to the Twin Towers Penitentiary. During the subsequent escape posthumously orchestrated by The Vanguard, Burnside escaped with many of his fellow convicts.